World War II The
squadron was first activated in June 1943 at
Geiger Field, Washington as the
729th Bombardment Squadron, one of the four original squadrons of the
452d Bombardment Group. Later that month, it moved to
Rapid City Army Air Base, South Dakota and began to train with the
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. It continued training with
Second Air Force until December, when it began its movement to the
European Theater of Operations. The ground echelon staged through
Camp Shanks and sailed on the on 2 January 1944. The air echelon deployed via the
South Atlantic air ferry route The squadron established itself at
RAF Deopham Green in January 1944, and began operations on 4 February 1944 with a strike on an aircraft assembly plant near
Brunswick. Its strategic targets included railroad
marshalling yards near
Frankfurt, aircraft factories near
Regensberg and
Kassel. the
ball bearing factory at
Schweinfurt and an
oil refinery near
Bohlen. The 729th was occasionally diverted to support tactical operations. It hit
airfields,
V-weapon launching sites, bridges and other objectives in preparations for
Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy. It bombed enemy positions to support
Operation Cobra, the breakout at
Saint Lo in July 1944 and the attacks on
Brest, France in August. It supported
Operation Market Garden,
airborne attacks in the Netherlands in September and, during the
Battle of the Bulge, struck German
lines of communication. It struck an airfield to support
Operation Varsity, the airborne assault across the
Rhine. In a 1949 reorganization of the reserves, it became a
light bomber squadron and began to equip and train with
Douglas B-26 Invaders. The squadron was manned at only 25% of its authorized strength. The squadron was mobilized for the
Korean War in August 1950 in the first wave of reserve mobilizations. To help bring it up to strength, the squadron was augmented by reservists assigned to the
448th Bombardment Wing, which was also stationed at Long Beach, but remained in reserve status until the following year. The 729th was a squadron of one of the first two reserve wings to be mobilized, and administrative provisions for mobilization proved inadequate, with numerous reservists never receiving the telegrams calling them to active duty. The unit moved to
George Air Force Base, California for intensive training and to be brought up to full strength. In October, the squadron deployed to
Itazuke Air Base, Japan to begin combat operations. The squadron operated from Japan and later from the southern tip of Korea. The squadron flew armed reconnaissance, intruder and
interdiction missions. It supported ground troops and attacked tactical targets. In May 1952, the squadron was inactivated and returned to the reserve. Its mission, personnel and aircraft were transferred to the
37th Bombardment Squadron, which was simultaneously activated at
Pusan East (K-9) Air Base, South Korea.
Reconnaissance and Bombardment in the reserves The squadron was redesignated the
729th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron and activated in June 1952 at Long Beach, where it absorbed some of the resources of the 921st Reserve Training Wing, which was inactivated. The reserve mobilization for the Korean War, however, had left the reserve without aircraft, and the unit did not receive aircraft until July 1952. Despite its tactical reconnaissance name, it was first equipped with
Curtiss C-46 Commando transports. The following year, it began to equip with a mix of aircraft, including The B-26 and
North American F-51 Mustang. In 1954 it received its first jets,
Lockheed F-80 Shooting Stars. In 1955, the squadron once again became the
729th Bombardment Squadron and trained with the Invader as a tactical bombardment unit. In July 1957, the squadron became the
729th Troop Carrier Squadron.
Activation of groups under the wing Since 1955, the Air Force had been detaching Air Force Reserve squadrons from their parent wing locations to separate sites. The concept offered several advantages: communities were more likely to accept the smaller squadrons than the large wings and the location of separate squadrons in smaller population centers would facilitate recruiting and manning. In time, the detached squadron program proved successful in attracting additional participants. Although the dispersal of flying units was not a problem when the entire wing was called to active service, mobilizing a single flying squadron and elements to support it proved difficult. This weakness was demonstrated in the partial mobilization of reserve units during the
Berlin Crisis of 1961. To resolve this, at the start of 1962, ConAC determined to reorganize its reserve wings by establishing
groups with support elements for each of its troop carrier squadrons. This reorganization would facilitate mobilization of elements of wings in various combinations when needed. However, as this plan was entering its implementation phase, another partial mobilization occurred for the
Cuban Missile Crisis. The formation of new troop carrier groups was delayed until January for wings that had not been mobilized. On 25 April 1969, the 729th transferred its aircraft and was reassigned to the
944th Military Airlift Group as an associate of the active duty
63d Military Airlift Wing. In 1973, Air Force Reserve inactivated its reserve associate groups and the squadron was assigned directly to the
445th Military Airlift Wing. Missions the 729th has flown included
humanitarian relief,
aeromedical flights, and
airdrops of supplies and
paratroopers. On 9 August 2005 the wing received its first
Boeing C-17 Globemaster III strategic airlifter, named "Spirit of California". This was the first of nine C-17s assigned to the 452nd, the wing became the first Air Force Reserve Command C-17 Globemaster III unit. ==Lineage==